Two Become Three
Nero awoke with a jolt when something hard hit him over the head.
He bolted upright, hand instantly flying over to where Blue Rose was at his side and stared around wildly, searching for his attacker. All he found, however, was a blonde girl in a pretty dress that looked straight out of a fairytale, a few years younger than him, glaring at his form with hands on her hips and a broom at her side. He blinked owlishly at her, brain not quite working at full capacity. It might have if his surroundings had provided him with the image of something more... dangerous than a little girl.
"Who are you?!"
Flabbergasted at her guts to growl at him threateningly, Nero lowered his revolver and sat up fully, throwing his legs over the side of the couch, feet hitting the floor.
"I asked you a question! What are you doing here?"
Now that his brain was catching up again, the young half-devil returned her glare.
"I could ask you the same, girl. Do you even know where the hell you are? This is no place for a child like you."
In any other situation, Nero would have been impressed by the fact that she wasn't intimidated at all. Quite the opposite actually, if the way she was trying to tower over him menacingly was any indicator.
"That's it, mister. I was trying to be nice, but now you have it-" she took a deep breath, "DANTEEE!"
Nero winced at the volume and had to keep himself from covering his ears. Man, for such a small kid she sure could be loud. He heard a crash from the upper floor and turned his head towards the head of the stairs in wonder. He saw a red blur flying down the steps, before something hard connected with his head again. Reflexively, he brought his hands up to cover the abused bodypart, which only caused a loud shriek to pierce the air.
"You're a demon! Dante, how can you not notice there's a demon sleeping in your shop!"
"Oh, that's it, you little...", Nero growled irritated, throwing the blanket away and stood, surpassing her height by a foot now, Blue Rose raised. His blazing eyes wandered to where Dante was standing at the feet of the steps, and he felt his anger rising even more at the dumb-founded look on the elder's face.
"Dante, what are you standing there?! Do something!"
Nero's eyes whipped back to the girl, just in time to see the broom aiming for his head again. He caught it mid-air with his Devil Bringer, effortlessly keeping it in place even though she struggled to get it back.
"Old man, for fuck's sake, would you stop standing there like an idiot and explain?"
He didn't give Dante any time to talk, however, and instantly turned back to his attacker.
"I live here, goddamnit. But who the hell are you that you just barge in here and hit sleeping people over the head with a broom?"
"I'm-"
"Patty, it's okay. He's right, he lives here."
Nero's gaze whipped over to the older demon hunter who had apparently finally found his voice again. He watched in irritation when Dante sauntered over to them, barely hidden amusement twitching at his lips now that the surprise had worn off. His anger vanished for a second though and made room for astonishment when he saw the elder loosening the girl's grip on the broom and easily picking her up. Even more astounding was the fact that the girl- Patty?- didn't voice any objections and just let him do it, although her glare directed at the younger never even wavered. Nero attempted to ask what on earth was going on, but Dante mouthed him a Later. He disappeared with the girl in the kitchen.
For a moment, Nero just stood there, growling at this very unpleasant morning until he finally let go of the broom with a huff, put Blue Rose away and dropped back down on the couch. Dante better had a good explanation for this. It was obvious that he knew the girl, but that certainly didn't explain why she acted as though she owned the place. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, glared at the closed kitchen door and waited. A few minutes later, they both reemerged from the other room, the girl with an odd mixture of guilt and swallowed pride on her face while Dante, walking behind her, was looking down at her with a small smile. Nero watched carefully as the blonde girl made her way over to him, stopping right in front of the couch. He held her gaze, even if it caused his eye to twitch in irritation, but was taken by surprise when she suddenly bowed.
"I'm sorry I attacked you. I didn't know who you were, and it has happened before that strange people were lurking around the shop."
Nero stared at her for a moment before he found his voice again, anger at her finally fading.
"It's... okay."
Before he could say anything else, Dante clapped his hands together loudly, catching both their attention.
"Alright, now that that's settled, how about you introduce yourself so I won't be ripped out of my dreams again by another misunderstanding?"
Growling at the older hunter, Nero rose from his seat and turned back to the girl. He held out his human hand.
"I'm Nero. I moved in here a week ago."
"Patty Lowell."
She took his hand, smiling brightly at him, and Nero couldn't help but return the gesture.
"Good, good. Now that you won't try to kill each other, I'll go take a shower. Be nice to each other!"
Before either of them could say anything, Dante disappeared up the stairs. They both rolled their eyes at him before looking at each other again. Nero scratched the back of his head, suddenly unsure what he should say.
"So, uh... How long've you known the old man?", he asked. She huffed.
"Five years. It was his job to protect me. I've been around every now and then ever since to help that this place doesn't turn into a junkyard any more than it already is. He's so hopeless."
Nero felt the corners of his lips curling up in amusement. It had taken him less than a day to realise how chaotic the older hunter was. Before he could say anything, though, she continued.
"I know who you are. He just told me. You met during that big mission a year ago, and it turned out you're related, right?"
Not knowing what to say, Nero merely nodded. Patty gave him a huge, sincere smile and clasped his hand.
"I think that's great. He always says he likes being alone, but I can tell he's always much more cheerful when his friends are around. He always acts all tough, but he has a really soft heart under that rough exterior." She cast a serene look at the ceiling in the area where they could hear the shower running. Turning back to him, Nero noted the sombreness in her face as she watched him, understanding in her eyes.
"He told me you were an orphan and that you had to leave your hometown, so that's why you're living here with him now. I lived in an orphanage, too, before we found my mother five years ago. I know what it feels like. So even if I don't know you very well yet, I'm really happy for you that you found someone you can call family, even if Dante is a big idiot sometimes!"
Taken aback by her straightforwardness, Nero wasn't sure what to say. He was oddly touched, something he really wasn't used to, even if he, too, felt some kind of connection to Patty the instant she mentioned their similar backgrounds. He cleared his throat in an attempt to escape his awkwardness before forcing out a reply.
"Um... thanks. You know, you're pretty brave. Not many little girls would dare to attack a half-demon with a broom", he mentioned, trying to steer the conversation into a direction he was more comfortable with. She lightly punched his arm.
"Little girl? I'm 15, I'm almost grown! You don't look all that older, anyways. What are you, 16?"
Now it was Nero's turn to huff and he gave her an irritated half-glare.
"I'm almost 18, you brat."
She crossed her arms, clearly not impressed. She decided to let it go for now, however. He was new around here, no need be all hard on him so soon.
"Whatever... But what do you think? If I were a cry-baby, I wouldn't be able to stand Dante at all! He such a child sometimes, really, I always have to clean up his shop because he leaves everything lying around! I hope you're not like that, either, because then I'll have to get bigger stuff than a broom!"
He recognised a playful threat when he heard one, so Nero only snorted in amusement.
"Nah. I'm not exactly a cleaning fairy, either, but I prefer not to live in my own junk."
"Thank god, I don't know what I would have done if there were two Dante now..."
With that, they found common ground in the immaturity that was Dante and didn't take long to delve deep into conversation about all his lackings, snickering and complaining about their common friend in good nature. And that was how Dante found them some time later, hair still wet from his shower. Both Nero and Patty were sitting on the couch, heads lowered and talking animatedly, words interrupted by the occasional snort and snicker. Making his way over to his desk, he raised his voice.
"Hey, what are you two planning now over there? Taking over the shop?"
Their heads whipped up at the sound of his voice and Patty wasted no second to get up and race over to him. She threw her arms around his neck, catching him by surprise, as she was dangling off him.
"Took you long enough, you idiot! Now I want you to get rid of all these empty pizza boxes or I swear to god, I won't ever come and help you keeping this place clean again!", she declared loudly, but added in a more hushed tone so only Dante could hear: "I'm glad you found each other. I really am."
Dante smiled as he put his hands on her sides to lower her to the floor again.
"Yes, yes, Ma'am... I am, too", he added quietly as he patted her on the head.
Knowing when refusing to execute her orders right after they were given was dangerous, the red-clad hunter immediately picked up the pizza boxes scattered around the shop and took them out to throw them away. As soon as he was back, Patty gave him a regal nod before she went to get the cleaning supplies. The moment she darted up the stairs, Nero made his way over to his older relative, a half-smile-half-smirk playing at his lips. He elbowed the other hunter in the side, throwing him a playful glare.
"You didn't tell me I was going to be attacked by your little sister."
Dante growled at him without any malice before scratching the back of his neck. Returning the glare halfheartedly, he retorted:
"Well, she's yours now, too."
